


Just Give Me Some Truth

by big_slug



Series: Montauk: Beyond Hawkins [5]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Angst, Appendicitis, Comfort, El's powers are back, Friendship, Future Fic, Good Parent Joyce Byers, Hospitals, M/M, Revelations, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26000635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/big_slug/pseuds/big_slug
Summary: For a while Will didn't even have to think about the terrible events that lay behind him. One night, two years after his last encounter with the paranormal, things change drastically in an instant. Will his relationship with Adrian survive the night?You should read the first work in the series to fully understand.
Relationships: Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers & Original Female Character(s), Will Byers/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Montauk: Beyond Hawkins [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1464226
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	Just Give Me Some Truth

**Author's Note:**

> Well, it had to happen at some point, didn't it?

**August 1987**

„Aren‘t you just lucky?“ Will shoves a half handful of popcorn into his mouth before handing the bowl over to Adrian, who does the same. He then lets his sister have some.

„Why?“ Melissa asks absently. „Because in all your mercy you‘ve decided to leave some popcorn for us?“

Next to her, El giggles, but she oddly cuts herself off in the middle of it, rolling over to her back on the floor.

Will and Adrian got the couch, the girls got the floor. „No. Because we‘re so utterly gay that we don‘t mind watching these girly movies with you. I mean, _Pretty in Pink_?“ Will scrutinizes the VHS sleeve. „I know guys who‘d have to go to the gym after this to regain their masculinity. Are we all set?“

„Ready.“ Adrian says. He pulls Will a little closer as Melissa presses _play_ on the remote.

„Could you-“ El coughs. „Could you turn the volume down a little? Our mom has to get some sleep.“ Melissa brings the volume to a more civil level, and that‘s good, because El is absolutely right. Not everyone in the house gets a summer break.

„Ellie, you okay?“ Adrian asks timidly. „You‘ve been a bit... I don‘t know...“

Will knows he is hesitant to use the word _weird_ around El, but Adrian does have a point. El has been behaving rather weirdly today. She is even quieter than usual, very withdrawn, and she laughs less. „I‘m okay.“ El mumbles. „Really. Just a little... bellyache. Or cramps, I guess?“

The TV, being the only light source in the room, casts a blue shimmer across half of her face as she turns around in an attempt to reassure them. Even with the blue light, she looks awfully pale. „It‘ll be better in the morning.“

Will feels a slight pinch of worry settling in the pit of his stomach, but he decides to let it go for now. Next to him, Adrian shrugs. And when El has turned to the TV again, where the intro of the film is rolling, Will feels the brush of his boyfriend‘s lips on his jaw. „Come on.“ Adrian whispers. „Girls, am I right? Always cramping, getting headaches, having to pee every ten minutes.“

„I can hear you.“ Melissa hisses. „Now shut up, I wanna watch this movie.“

The girls apparently do watch it, but Adrian and Will can‘t really be bothered to pay attention to it. Not when they have each other to focus on. They try not to make it too apparent, but when they‘re absolutely sure El and Melissa aren‘t looking, they keep their lips awfully busy.

This works for a while, and Will knows his hair is a mess, his lips are swollen, and his shirt is crumpled in the front very soon. But then El shifts away from her lying position and instead crawls to the couch to lean her back against it.

„El?“ Will swallows hard. „Are you sure you‘re okay?“

„I told you.“ she snaps immediately „It‘s just a bellyache. I‘m fine, I-“ El whimpers before she can finish.

„You‘re obviously not. How long have you been in pain?“

El shakes her head violently, and now Will can see that her hair is sticking wet to her temples. „Noon? I don‘t know.“

„You‘ve got a fever.“ Will notes as he holds a palm to her forehead. Now he is really beginning to freak out. Melissa pauses to movie and Adrian switches on the lights of the living room so they can see better.

Will thinks his adoptive sister looks like absolute hell. He has seen her at her worst, with blood flowing freely from her nose and ears, and he can safely say that this is the same expression she was wearing back then, after having completely exhausted herself. „Have you been sick?“ he asks in an absolute panic. „Have you thrown up?“

„I think I have to.“ El cries. Will doesn‘t miss how she clasps her hand over the right half of her belly as she bends over, gagging. Melissa holds the half-empty bowl of popcorn under El‘s chin and makes sure to hold her hair back, but nothing will come out thanks to her mostly empty stomach.

Adrian leans over to Will, whispering as not to upset El more. „Appendix?“

Will nods. „Probably. I got mine out when I was nine. Y-You guys stay here with her, I‘m gonna get my mom.“ It‘s not hard to guess what is going on anymore, not after Will went through the same thing years ago. Fitting symptoms. Probably the second worst physical pain he‘s felt in his life so far. He bolts up the stairs. His memory of the ride to the hospital has always been blurry, as he was delirious at that point. „Mom!“ he hammers on her bedroom door with his fist, but also opens it at the same time. He flicks the light switch. „Mom?“

Thank god his mom is the vigilant type, a light sleeper and almost immediately ready to spring into action. „Will? Honey, what‘s-“ Her eyes strain against the light. „What‘s going on?“

„I think-“ Will heaves a long breath. „Mom, I think we‘ve got to take El to to the hospital. She‘s having stomach pain, a fever, and she‘d throw up if she had eaten anything today.“

„Okay, I‘ll get dressed.“ his mom says, and she jumps out of bed without even letting it show that she was just woken up in the middle of the night. It must be one of these superpowers that moms possess. „You go back downstairs and tell her I‘ll be right there. Christ, other families raise ten kids without any of them having to get their appendix-“

Several screams from downstairs interrupt him. It‘s not just El‘s voice now, and that‘s probably the most worrying part. Will rushes back downstairs, with his mom only a few feet behind him. The scene in the living room is worse than he could have ever feared. There is just one thought that is now flashing through his brain like painful lightning; _Why now? This is the worst moment for this to happen!_

Adrian and Melissa are pressed against the wall in a panic. Every light is flickering violently, even the TV. And in the middle of it, curled into a whimpering ball, is El - floating five feet above the carpet.

Needless to say, after two years of her being just a normal girl, this is a surprise to see, even for Will and his mom. „Oh no, not now!“ she can be heard groaning behind him. „Will, I‘ve got this.“

Will can‘t tell what she says from his position. All he can see is his mom walking over to El, gently taking her in her arms and whispering to her. The flickering of the lights slows down. The TV just shuts itself off, fizzling lightly. And most importantly, El very slowly comes down, until she is just wrapped around Will‘s mom, whining. „It hurts!“

„I know, sweetie, I know. We need to take you to the hospital right now, okay? Come on, let‘s get you in the car.“

The pain must really be unbearable by now, otherwise El would beg not to be taken to a doctor. As it looks now, mom will have to do this in her nightgown. Will finds the car keys for her, disregarding Adrian and Melissa for the moment. „Mom, what do I tell them?“ he whispers.

In the open door, with some fresh air pouring in, his mom turns around. It‘s been a long time since he has seen her this serious. And for a good reason. „Looks like you have to tell them the truth. Will, you have to make sure they talk to _no one_ about what just happened.“

Will takes a long, deep breath. For the longest time he thought he‘d never have to tell Adrian the full truth about his past. After all, it didn‘t look like El‘s powers would ever return. But all this has changed in an instant, and now Will has to worry about his boyfriend as much as he worries about his sister, who might not be able to keep her powers under control at the hospital.

„Okay.“ he says. „I‘ll tell them. Should I call Doc Owens? Just in case anything happens that would need a cover-up?“

Will‘s mom looks over her shoulder, having dragged El almost halfway to the car. „I-“ she stalls for just a second. „Okay. Do it. And do it quick.“

„We‘ll join you at the hospital later!“ Will calls, and once the engine of his mom‘s car roars, he shuts the front door. Silence falls over the house. Adrian and Melissa are suddenly right there in the hall with him, looking as freaked out as anyone would.

„Will, what the _hell_ is going on here?“ Adrian‘s voice comes out raspy, jumping up and down in pitch.

„Guys, I‘ll be right with you. But I have to call someone. I promise I‘m gonna explain.“

The siblings follow him like lost puppies to the kitchen, despite having a good reason to just run away. Will knows the number by heart - His mom had made sure of that.

It only rings once. _„Philadelphia Public Library, how can I help you?“_ a severely bored voice says on the other end.

Will swallows, his heart thumping brutally in his chest. „This is William Byers. I need to speak to Doctor Sam Owens immediately. Tell him it‘s an emergency.“

„ _Your identification code, please.“_ the voice says slowly.

„It‘s... uh... Aristotle.“

„ _You will be connected shortly. Please stand by.“_

„Come on... come on...“ Will whispers impatiently. He finds Adrian and Melissa still staring at him, wide-eyed. „Bear with me. I swear this is only gonna take a minute, and then-“

„ _Will? Will Byers, is that you?“_

„Yes!“ Will all but shouts into the phone. „Yes, it‘s me!“

„ _Well, you‘re lucky I‘m a night owl.“_ Owens says. _„But you wouldn‘t just call to say hello. What‘s your emergency?“_

„It‘s Jane. My mom is taking her to the hospital right now, probably to get her appendix out and... and she was floating. Look, her powers are back and she‘s in a lot of pain so-“

„ _Christ, she‘s not in control, is she? Alright, I can have an intervention team there in two hours. If anything happens, they‘ll handle the fallout. We‘ll speak later.“_

And with a _click_ the line is dead. Will is just relieved that Owens quickly understood the severity of the situation. He knows that the most dreadful part of the night is still upon him, though.

„Would you _please_...“ Melissa cries „...explain what the fuck is going on? Jane was-“

„She was floating.“ Will says. He has to fight to keep his voice calm. „Yeah. And the thing with the lights, that was also her. I‘ve got something to show you.“

Will really doesn‘t like their small excuse for a basement, that dark hole with all its spiders and bugs, but right now he thinks he needs some proof for the outlandish story he‘s about to tell. Melissa and Adrian follow him there _very_ hesitantly.

„Don‘t worry about these.“ Will says with a nod to the rifles they keep on a rack down here. „My mom is just paranoid. This right here... that‘s why we‘re here.“ He points at the large metal file cabinet that holds every bit of evidence there is to what happened in Hawkins.

* * *

The silence in the living room is icy. Papers are scattered all across the floor, most prominently a medium size print of a photo. El is recognizable in it, despite the buzz cut. Adrian is staring at it. His sister is too. As for Will, he is seated in his armchair, further away from his boyfriend than he would want to be right now.

„We‘ve known each other for almost two years. And you‘re telling us this _now_?“ Adrian finally questions. His voice is distant, painfully stinging in Will‘s chest. „ _If_ we even decide to believe this... whatever it is.“

„We didn‘t tell you because there was no reason to. The fewer people know of this, the better. And it would‘ve been best if that secret had stayed in Hawkins.“

„So all your friends... they‘re all in on this?“ Melissa rasps out.

Will nods. „Yeah. Mike, Dustin, Max, Lucas, my brother, Nancy... a few more that you haven‘t met. And all of them put their lives on the line more than once.“

Adrian sighs with a severity that Will doesn‘t like. „Do you... do you really trust me that little? I mean, if this isn‘t all some sick prank your entire family is pulling on us right now. Did you think I‘d spill to someone, or what?“

„No!“ Will defends. His throat is constricting and he can barely get the words out. „No, it‘s not like that! But put yourself in my shoes! Would you tell _anyone_ if you knew that all this information could put them in danger? Guys, we have a sort of truce with these government people, but one day they might come for everyone who knows. Not to mention the NDAs that we all signed.“

„Will, I- I need time to wrap my head around this. Could we just-?“

„Oh god, this is real.“ Melissa interrupts her brother. The realization must have just hit. „There‘s a parallel universe. Fucking _tentacle monsters-“_

„Well, technically only one of them had tentacles...“

„...superpowers, a government conspiracy, and now we‘re in the middle of it! What about Camp Hero? I always thought these were just science fiction stories!“

Despite all the fear Will is feeling over the hardly concealed rage in Adrian‘s eyes, he chuckles. „They assured us that no experiments of that kind ever happened at Camp Hero. That so called _Montauk Project_ had something to do with weaponizing microwaves, or whatever. At least that‘s what Doctor Owens says, and I trust him.“

„We better clean this up.“ Adrian mumbles. „And then we should head to the hospital.“ He goes to work on the documents, but he does so mindlessly, and Will decides to help. Melissa remains frozen on the couch.

„For the last time.“ Adrian demands. „Are there any hidden cameras around? Am I gonna be on _Candid Camera_ or something?“

Will reaches for his boyfriend‘s hand, but he yanks it away almost violently. „It‘s real. Please don‘t just... Ady, you _know_ me.“

„Yeah? Do I?“

Will is moving more erratically with every second that passes like this, tears picking on the corners of his eyes. _So this is it?_ he thinks bitterly. Has this night really ended the best thing that‘s ever happened to him?

Adrian is the first one to storm out of the house and into the darkness once all the documents are back in their folders. Will has to look for his keys first, and Melissa uses the opportunity to grab him by the arm. „I swear, if he doesn‘t snap out of this hissy fit tonight, he‘ll get a piece of my mind tomorrow, okay? It‘s just so damn hard to process all this shit at once.“

Will sniffs involuntarily. God, he hopes she‘s right. „Let‘s see how El is doing, okay? Maybe if she confirms it...“

He technically isn‘t allowed to drive at night without a legal guardian in the car, but then again this town has a grand total of eight cops, and none of them can be bothered to go on patrol much. Nothing ever happens here, so Will should be fine, unless he fucks up and crashes - which is a real danger.

Will feels he has to actively focus; He has to block out the aura of bile radiating from Adrian in the passenger seat, and he has to keep the fear of losing him at bay for now. A part of him wants to kick himself in the nuts for worrying more about his relationship than he does about his own sister.

It‘s a tiny hospital, so tiny that Will isn‘t even sure if they can operate here. But the receptionist points them to a room, and sure enough there is El in that hospital bed, either sleeping or unconscious. She is looking pale, and mom is there, drawing patterns on the back of her hand.

„They made short work of it.“ she whispers with a tired smile. „The doctor says they‘ll have to keep her here for a few days.“

„Mom, did anything-“

„A few light bulbs at the entrance gave up the ghost. But I don‘t think anyone‘s made a connection. Did you call Owens?“

Will nods. He lets himself sink into a chair, and doesn‘t miss how Adrian and Melissa keep standing there with blank expressions. „He said he‘d send someone here.“

„We‘re not out of the woods yet. His people better stay here until we can take El home.“ Will‘s mom yawns, at the same time trying not to show her exhaustion. „Honey, would you stay here for a while? I really don‘t want to be sitting here in my nightgown when the sun comes up.“

„Guys, do you want to stay?“ Will asks in Adrian‘s and Melissa‘s direction.

„Uh, yeah. Yeah, okay. We‘ll stay. Mrs Byers, Will told us some... some stuff.“ Melissa says awkwardly.

„He told you the truth.“ mom says. „And I‘m so sorry that you had to see all this. We‘re just asking that you don‘t tell anyone.“

„Well, who would believe us anyways?“ Adrian chuckles bitterly. „A few paranoid basement dwellers?“

* * *

Will‘s mom stays away for quite a while, and he thinks she might have fallen asleep at home. But that‘s okay, because El has been sleeping for the most part too, only waking up to take a sip of water and exchange a few words with Will. She is not in pain anymore, though, and the few words that she speaks sound incredibly relieved.

Adrian very gently asks her again for confirmation of Will‘s story. He _really_ isn‘t taking this well, and Will is beginning to think Adrian might never understand it. All she says is „It‘s true...“ before her eyelids begin to flutter and she sinks back into the pillow.

„Ady.“ Melissa chides then. „She‘s not in the condition.“

„I need some air.“ Adrian grunts at his sister. He stumbles out of the hospital room, half asleep himself.

Will can‘t help but bury his face in his hands. „Go, you idiot.“ Melissa hisses. „Talk to him. Now is the perfect opportunity. He gets very docile when he‘s tired.“ She even kicks Will in the shin when he doesn‘t react.

But Melissa is right. If this can be fixed, now is the time. Will trots out of the room on aching legs. It‘s that time of night when it‘s darkest, about two hours before sunrise, and for a while he can‘t see anything but blackness. But he soon spots Adrian there by the car, sitting on the hood.

„Hey.“ he says softly.

„Hey.“ Adrian replies.

„Can we... can we talk?“ Will sits down as well, shivering a little at the cold metal of his car. „I just wanted to say... I promise this was the only secret I‘ve ever kept from you.“

Adrian blinks against the sky, and Will can see the stars reflecting in his eyes. „And for a good reason, I guess. Did you really survive all on your own for a week in that-“

„Hell? Yeah. And for the longest time I went back there in my dreams. But since we moved here it‘s been... better. Remember that night I bit my tongue bloody?“

„How could I forget.“ Adrian croaks. „So you were dreaming of... _that_ place?“

„Yeah, something like that.“

Finally, Adrian‘s hand finds Will‘s on the cold hood they‘re sitting on. „I‘ll need a while to unpack this mess, but... I love you. You know that, right?“

„I know.“ Will sniffs. They‘re outside, and even though it‘s pitch black in the parking lot, Will makes sure they‘re alone before laying his face in the crook of Adrian‘s neck. „I‘m still sorry I couldn‘t tell you. I‘ve been wanting to ever since I realized I love you.“

When Adrian‘s fingers tickle his belly, Will giggles wetly. Much to his dismay, they just get one kiss before they have to jump apart again. Headlights appear at the entry to the parking lot. At first Will thinks it‘s his mom - but rolling towards the hospital comes a black van in immaculate condition.

„I think that‘s Owens‘ team.“ Will says. „I think they don‘t need to know that we‘ve told you, right?“

„No.“ Adrian agrees. „Whatever deals you‘ve got with the government, I‘d much rather be left alone by them. I‘m just a concerned friend.“

And thank god, the humorless men in their black suits never suspect a thing. Because if they did they would hand Adrian and Melissa NDAs to sign, they‘d give them a two hour lecture about keeping national secrets, and they would probably create a file about the twins somewhere. These are all things Adrian and Melissa can live without, though.

Will feels feather light when he walks back into the hospital room. Finally the hours of uncertainty are over. Adrian is going to stick with him.

And still, there is the matter of El‘s powers. They‘re back. And Will already knows this will have consequences.

**Author's Note:**

> Are any of my original readers from last year still around? lol, I never thought I'd keep this series 'alive' for so long.


End file.
